The Elements of High Flavor in Fruit: Nine Varieties that Meet the Classic Standard for Greatness

By David Karp

CULINARY TASTES, LIKE THE stock market and fashion, are ruled by inscrutable cycles, and few notions have risen and fallen so far as the concept of “high flavor” in fruit. In pomological manuals of the 19th and early 20th centuries this was a common accolade for the best varieties of noble fruits, such as apples, pears, and peaches. More than 20,000 boo…